Saturday, January 31, 2009

when i turned to the sports page of the boston globe this morning i was delighted to read that the celtics and their shitty mascot, Lucky the leprechaun, have parted ways. the only thing that wimpier version of notre dame's mascot was good for was a hearty "boooooh."

one interesting tidbit about lucky, he was the first unmasked mascot in the nba. well, i'm they could slap a gorilla suit on him and send him over to the phoenix suns..

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

lil wayne is releasing an auto-tuned rock album. this is the newly released single, "prom queen" and the album will be called rebirth. i first thought to myself, "wow this is horrible. why on earth would lil wayne try to make a rock album?" then i remembered that group of kids in high school that listened to lincoln park...

"Tidbits of toilet paper twisted in the wind at Bernard Madoff's Palm Beach home Monday morning - possibly the work of some ticked off teens who lost their trust funds.

Some teenage boys called The Palm Beach Post newsroom Sunday evening to take credit for the prank - one they said was sanctioned by their parents. They said they were acting in retaliation after they lost their trust funds to the accused swindler."

Trapped in a Monday morning fog of cubicle boredom, I decided for once to focus my usually aimless internet pursuits on a single goal. Today, this was to harness an understanding of the national grid and the finer points of power transmission. Where better to start, I thought, than by wikiing Thomas Edison, the genius behind the light bulb. After all, the light bulb was the main reason people wanted power in their house in the first place..

It turns out that Edison was kind of an idiot. He held patents for a DC (direct surrent) power infrastructure that was inefficient and economically ridiculous. Still, he engaged in what's known as theWar of Currents with George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla who were proponents of the much smarter and ultimately victorious AC (alternating current) power grid.

In a really sad and pathetic last ditch effort to save his potential fortunes, Edison funded the public execution of a variety of different animals via AC power electrocution. This culminated in the 1903 electrocution of "Topsy," a 28 year old elephant who was a staple of the Coney Island circus. He made a video of it too, to try and scare people. He may have inadvertently popularized electrocution as means of killing people too. What an effin' idiot.

What the fuck? that's horrible. Sure, legend has it that Topsy killed a drunken circus clown who tried to feed him a lit cigarette, but come on. Did we learn this in school? I feel like I would remember but maybe not.

As the debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan’s opponents aren’t arguing in good faith. Conservatives really, really don’t want to see a second New Deal, and they certainly don’t want to see government activism vindicated. So they are reaching for any stick they can find with which to beat proposals for increased government spending. Some of these arguments are obvious cheap shots. John Boehner, the House minority leader, has already made headlines with one such shot: looking at an $825 billion plan to rebuild infrastructure, sustain essential services and more, he derided a minor provision that would expand Medicaid family-planning services — and called it a plan to “spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives.” But the obvious cheap shots don’t pose as much danger to the Obama administration’s efforts to get a plan through as arguments and assertions that are equally fraudulent but can seem superficially plausible to those who don’t know their way around economic concepts and numbers. So as a public service, let me try to debunk some of the major antistimulus arguments that have already surfaced. Any time you hear someone reciting one of these arguments, write him or her off as a dishonest flack.

First, there’s the bogus talking point that the Obama plan will cost $275,000 per job created. Why is it bogus? Because it involves taking the cost of a plan that will extend over several years, creating millions of jobs each year, and dividing it by the jobs created in just one of those years. It’s as if an opponent of the school lunch program were to take an estimate of the cost of that program over the next five years, then divide it by the number of lunches provided in just one of those years, and assert that the program was hugely wasteful, because it cost $13 per lunch. (The actual cost of a free school lunch, by the way, is $2.57.) The true cost per job of the Obama plan will probably be closer to $100,000 than $275,000 — and the net cost will be as little as $60,000 once you take into account the fact that a stronger economy means higher tax receipts.

Next, write off anyone who asserts that it’s always better to cut taxes than to increase government spending because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their money. Here’s how to think about this argument: it implies that we should shut down the air traffic control system. After all, that system is paid for with fees on air tickets — and surely it would be better to let the flying public keep its money rather than hand it over to government bureaucrats. If that would mean lots of midair collisions, hey, stuff happens. The point is that nobody really believes that a dollar of tax cuts is always better than a dollar of public spending. Meanwhile, it’s clear that when it comes to economic stimulus, public spending provides much more bang for the buck than tax cuts — and therefore costs less per job created (see the previous fraudulent argument) — because a large fraction of any tax cut will simply be saved. This suggests that public spending rather than tax cuts should be the core of any stimulus plan. But rather than accept that implication, conservatives take refuge in a nonsensical argument against public spending in general.

Finally, ignore anyone who tries to make something of the fact that the new administration’s chief economic adviser has in the past favored monetary policy over fiscal policy as a response to recessions. It’s true that the normal response to recessions is interest-rate cuts from the Fed, not government spending. And that might be the best option right now, if it were available. But it isn’t, because we’re in a situation not seen since the 1930s: the interest rates the Fed controls are already effectively at zero. That’s why we’re talking about large-scale fiscal stimulus: it’s what’s left in the policy arsenal now that the Fed has shot its bolt. Anyone who cites old arguments against fiscal stimulus without mentioning that either doesn’t know much about the subject — and therefore has no business weighing in on the debate — or is being deliberately obtuse. These are only some of the fundamentally fraudulent antistimulus arguments out there. Basically, conservatives are throwing any objection they can think of against the Obama plan, hoping that something will stick. But here’s the thing: Most Americans aren’t listening. The most encouraging thing I’ve heard lately is Mr. Obama’s reported response to Republican objections to a spending-oriented economic plan: “I won.” Indeed he did — and he should disregard the huffing and puffing of those who lost.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Friday, January 23, 2009

"WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, in his first full day in office, revoked a controversial executive order signed by President Bush in 2001 that limited release of former presidents' records.

The new order could expand public access to records of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in the years to come as well as other past leaders, said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.

"It's extraordinary that a new president would address this issue on his first full day in office," Aftergood said. "It signifies the great importance he attaches to open, accountable government. The new order suggests President Obama will take a narrow view of executive privilege and assert it in a much more limited way than what we've seen in the recent past."

Under Bush's order, former presidents had broad ability to claim executive privilege and could designate others including family members who survive them to exercise executive privilege on their behalf.

Obama's new order gives ex-presidents less leeway to withhold records, Aftergood said, and takes away the ability of presidents' survivors to designate that privilege.

"For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city. This administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but with those who seek it to be known," Obama said before a gathering that included his senior staff. "The mere fact that you have the legal power to keep something secret does not mean you should always use it. Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency."

fuck bush. without a doubt the worst president of our lifetime. worse than nixon even for some of the older p.i. readers...what a douche bag..and in his final press conference he didn't even call on helen thomas! you don't snub helen thomas..

my prediction for 2009: cheney has plenty of tingling sensations in his baboon heart and bushy drinks himself onto celebrity rehab where he and gary busey can "enable" eachother.

that pilot deserves all the blowjobs he might get. all reports are saying it was a "double bird attack." that took down the plane. so, two birds flew into two different engines and it crashed a plane? i'm not shouting conspiracy at all here but it seems a bit odd. wouldn't a tiny bird be cremated by the commercial jet engine? either way good looks landing it in the hudson bay..

Dayumn. Imagine how sweet that would be! Too bad wagon-riding Bushy stocked the bench with a couple no-fun nose-pickin' poindexters. Otherwise we might have a good enough reason to go work here in this fish outta water economy.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I only have 5 minutes left on this hostel computer, but I have to say...has there been a step of progress regarding personal liberty since the early seventies (okay, Texas v. Johnson I suppose...)? But it´s getting fucking absurd...we are putting all our trust in law enforcement. I would rant longer, but time is running out, so you´re all spared from my favorite chat about illegal search/seizure. Anyways, A+ to Ginsberg, Stevens, Souter, and Breyer for dissenting.

The Obama team is tight with information, but I’ve got the scoop on the senior advisers he’s gathered to push a new Middle East policy as the Gaza war rages: Shibley Telhami, Vali Nasr, Fawaz Gerges, Fouad Moughrabi and James Zogby.

This group of distinguished Arab-American and Iranian-American scholars, with wide regional experience, is intended to signal a U.S. willingness to think anew about the Middle East, with greater cultural sensitivity to both sides, and a keen eye on whether uncritical support for Israel has been helpful.

O.K., forget the above, I’ve let my imagination run away with me. Barack Obama has no plans for this line-up on the Israeli-Palestinian problem and Iran.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

we all knew this 15 minute famer was a lying sack of lies who sucked. the problem is we really underestimated just how much he sucks. judging by the absurdity of the clip above, it's safe to say "joe the plumber" may rest in piss.

I found this short slide show / video online updating the status of the church.

Even if most of the bands were generic, the church was always a guarantee to see good musicians, familiar faces, and a bouquet of local stumble-bums. I have so many great memories of that place..

It seems like the new owner wants the best for it and has some bites on peeps leasing it. Toasters better get your act together and get some cool kids to move in for next year so we can all still crash the church from Nichols..

i've always thought there had to be a better, more natural solution than the whole radiation/chemotherapy thing...or maybe it's because i watched sean connery star in the medicine man on hbo a hundred times before i was in middle school..

i was searching for a picture of the medicine man movie poster and this popped up:

in march of 2001 there was a some conspiracy centered show on fox called "the lone gunman." the show was created by the same guy who was behind the x-files. on one episode, which aired 5 months before 9/11, the plot goes as follows: the government intentionally hijacks a commerical airliner, uses a remote control device to fly it into the world trade center and blame "tin-pot dictators" to create war and boost arms sales. nothing too serious, just another september coincidence...

Monday, January 5, 2009

a few years ago west coast dj d-styles released phantazmagorea which is a dirrty album. his intention was to demonstrate that dj's were musicians. his solution was to round up the best west coast dj's (mostly the beat junkies crew) to showcase the skills. the result was a tour that comprised of 6 dj's playing as a band; it's not just some lame drum loop, those kicks and snares are being scratched! in order to cut the album live d-styles had a special l.p. made with every sample used from the album pressed for the tour. following the short west coast tour, the l.p. was released hellla limited but, of course, my buddy greg had it. shit was dope to kutttt...

Or should I say, she's going to have someone write a memoir for her? Anyways, the memoir is going to be “an intimate account of Mrs. Bush’s life experiences.” Perfect. I want to know what it felt like to have W's cock in your mouth for the last 30 years. And more so, I want to know more about that time Cheney grabbed your ass and told you he'd go places your husband wouldn't.

Ahh. The real sad part is how much this cunt is going to get paid to write a piece of trash.

as stated by Stanley Fish. Why is this idiot getting paid to write an article like this? Almost all the films he chose are from the 40's, with two exceptions, one of the exceptions being fucking Groundhog Day. Give me a break.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

It's a tragedy that the Israelis - a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression - are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked "Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it's the Palestinians". By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they've forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians - with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers - and themselves - with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world - they sacrifice all credibility.